CSI2* Ivanovskoe
Russia

Willem Greve new co-owner Grandorado TN

Thursday, 07 May 2015

Sport

Willem Greve. Photo (c) Jenny Abrahamsson.

Willem Greve is the new co-owner of the KWPN approved stallion Grandorado TN. This completes a family, as the Dutch rider already competes with Grandorado’s sire Eldorado van de Zeshoek and his dam Charmieque. Greve and Eldorado competed in the Nations Cup of Lummen, Charmieque is one of Willems horses at 1.40-level.

It all started when Greve and stallion owner Henk Nijhof (from the Dutch stud farm Team Nijhof) were travelling all the way to France to go and look for a young stallion. “So we had lots of time to discuss all sorts of things,” says Henk Nijhof. “I told Willem we were training an exceptional two year old for the KWPN stallion show. I showed him a spectacular jumping photo: ‘This is his dam’, I said.” Willem Greve immediately went for the mare, the Carolus II daughter Charmieque out of a dam by Baloubet du Rouet. “I bought the mare,” says Willem Greve, “and tried to buy the part of her son still owned by the breeders. But they wanted to go to the stallion show first.” The breeders, Dick Verhoeven and Marius Rietberg, were confident their stallion would pass the stallion show and performance test.

The son of Eldorado van de Zeshoek and Charmieque was baptised ‘Grandorado’, when he received top marks at the KWPN stallion performance test and was approved for breeding.

“After that, there was so much interest for Grandorado that we thought we had to sell,” says Marius Rietberg. “As Willem Greve had been chasing him all the time, we felt we should sell our part to him. And – of course – now we are sure that Grandorado will become all chances to develop into an international show jumper. That’s important to us, because we continue breeding with his grand dam.”

“For me this was a big investment. But is was now or never. Later on he would not be affordable," Greve comments.